Month of Overseas Filipino – Dec. 1, 2026

Expected Month of Overseas Filipino Deals

As Month of Overseas Filipino unfolds throughout December, the focus shifts from commercial deals to profound recognition and support. Financial institutions like Western Union and BDO Unibank often highlight special remittance services or lower fees, acknowledging the vital economic lifeline Overseas Filipinos provide. Logistics companies such as LBC Express may offer promotions on balikbayan box shipments, connecting families across continents. Community organizations and government agencies like the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) host cultural events, forums, and awards ceremonies to celebrate achievements and address challenges. Retailers like SM Supermalls in the Philippines might feature products or services catering to families of Overseas Filipinos, reinforcing cultural ties. We will update this page with confirmed initiatives and events as December approaches, encouraging participation in these meaningful observances.

History of Month of Overseas Filipino

Leaving your homeland, the place where you grew up and where everything and everyone you know lives, can be difficult. But many people do it for the opportunity that it provides to support a different life for their children.

An overseas Filipino is any person of full or partial Filipino origin — that is, people who trace their ancestry back to the Philippines but reside outside the country.

Since the Immigration Act of the United States changed in 1965, the number of people in the U.S. of Filipino ancestry has grown exponentially and in 2007, there were around 12 million Filipinos living overseas.

In 2013, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas estimated that about 10.2 million people of Filipino descent lived or worked abroad. This number makes up around 11% of the Philippines’ population. It’s one of the largest diaspora populations, spanning more than 100 countries.

In June 1988, the then president of the Philippines, Maria Corazon “Cory” Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino signed Proclamation No. 276 declaring December 1988 and the same month, every year after that as the Month of Overseas Filipinos. It gives recognition to the Filipinos living overseas who have contributed to the restoration of Philippine democracy and the development of the country through their hard work, taxes, and remittances.

In 2007, then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Administrative Order No. 202 creating the Inter-Agency Committee. This was done to celebrate the Month of Overseas Filipinos with the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch (P.M.R.W., an umbrella organization of migrant civil society organizations) as Chair and the C.F.O. as Co-Chair.

How Businesses Can Celebrate Month of Overseas Filipino